City Hall Memo; Bloomberg Is Content To Avoid Spotlight

New Yorkers are just beginning to learn about what things Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg cares most about. And it seems that his public image is not among them.

In almost every way -- from his choice to delegate major responsibilities, his seeming disdain for delivering a daily dose of policy messages and the way he separates his private and public lives -- Mr. Bloomberg is altering the modern template of what it means to play the lead role in the theater of city government. This is one mayor who seems more than content to play a behind-the-scenes role.

Some of his most important work, like negotiating with Washington for aid, has been done out of the public spotlight.

Shifts in policy, such as a decision this week to accept a loan from the state to pay for teacher raises, is also done without public fanfare or filibustering.

Mr. Bloomberg, who often delegates, seems glad to leave the work and the credit to those doing the negotiating, and they are, many of them say, happy to take it, or at least to be laboring for a man so self-confident, they say, that he does not care much about shoring up his ego. Mr. Bloomberg does not design each day to seize control of the news coverage about him; outside of his increasingly public comments about the schools, Mr. Bloomberg rarely expounds on his goals or deeds.

Indeed, the new mayor has not even picked on any high-profile agency or group as his symbol of waste in government -- as Rudolph W. Giuliani and other mayors did in times of a budget crisis -- choosing instead to impassively suggest across-the-board cuts, free of ideological goals.

Even when Mr. Bloomberg makes a move that is a clear departure from the man who came before him -- testifying at a City Council hearing on education or attending a gay St. Patrick's Day parade -- Mr. Bloomberg tends to be nonchalant, insisting that he showed up simply because he was invited.

''A normal politician who has reached this point has usually developed all sort of processes and plans for how to present a public persona,'' said Marc V. Shaw, deputy mayor for operations. ''But because he is mayor in his first foray into public office, he doesn't. It is the doing of the job, not the image of doing the job, that matters. Keeping crime down, dealing with the budget and fixing the school system are major, significant themes, but he doesn't care much about their public presentation.''

Because Mr. Bloomberg is so seemingly indifferent to the routine political rhythms of City Hall, some close to him wonder whether he intends to run for a second term (he always refers to serving four years, not eight).

''Nothing this guy has done so far has an eye toward four years from now,'' said one senior aide.

When asked if Mr. Bloomberg is thinking, even at this early date, of seeking re-election, Edward Skyler, the mayor's press secretary, said, ''I've never heard him discuss it.''

The two areas where Mr. Bloomberg has demonstrated passion are the city's embattled budget and its troubled schools. In making tough decisions to cut previously sacrosanct agencies and then presenting a 90-minute budget address without using notes, Mr. Bloomberg left little doubt that he has absorbed and cares deeply about the city's dire fiscal condition.

Gaining control over the schools is hardly a new idea, but Mr. Bloomberg has become increasingly clear in recent weeks that it is his top priority. At the City Council hearing last week he announced, ''I mean to use the bully pulpit of City Hall to focus on school performance and place the mayor himself on the line.''

However, Mr. Bloomberg's administration can sometimes send mixed, if not laconic, signals about what it really wants. His preliminary budget, for example, includes the possible addition of tolls on East River crossings and the abandonment of the idea of putting building inspectors into the Fire Department, things that the mayor and a spokesman have acknowledged are under consideration. But the administration has never formally announced any such plans.

''We just don't see an organized lobbying effort where the mayor picks up the phones to call sympathizers with issues that are important to him,'' said one veteran lobbyist. ''He makes strong statements in hallways when cornered but makes no statements publicly. Things were totally different under Giuliani; people in the Council knew when there was a bill that he cared about or didn't. They were absolutely clear about it and he was the bully that used that pulpit.''

Some officials suggest that he should be using his mayoral platform to not only gather political support for the huge cutbacks he has to make in the city's budget, but to keep the message of sacrifice front and center to prepare New Yorkers for austere measures.

Further, by choosing not to offer a potpourri of initiatives, programs and goals with some regularity, Mr. Bloomberg may find himself falling into these common traps: Fail to grab on to an issue during a campaign, and your opponent will find one for you; fail to present one once elected, and the news media will do the honors.

This has become increasingly clear in recent weeks, when the news pages have been dominated by reports of Mr. Bloomberg's refusal to detail his weekend whereabouts. At times, Mr. Bloomberg has seemed even less visible when he is working behind the scenes to have an impact. For example, when he had no appointees on the board charged with redeveloping Manhattan -- Mr. Giuliani had appointed the mayor's representatives until the board was expanded to include the Bloomberg choices this week -- Mr. Bloomberg's name was rarely attached to the effort. A few weeks after he was elected, Mr. Bloomberg took a walk near ground zero with Christy Ferer, whose husband was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, to look for an appropriate spot for a memorial. But the development corporation made the first announcement without any connection to the administration. Mr. Bloomberg has been sharing appearances with Gov. George E. Pataki this week to talk about plans for memorials and recovery at the site.

''He is so busy doing things he doesn't bother to stop and wave the flag and say, 'I'm doing this,' '' Ms. Ferer said. ''The fact is he doesn't seem to care about publicity. He just shrugs his shoulders and says, 'Glad it got done.' ''

Red-Eye Trip on Private Jet

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is planning to pull an all-nighter today, taking his private jet out to California to attend an awards dinner honoring former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and then flying back to New York overnight.

''It's far away from his home, and I thought it'd just be a nice thing to do,'' Mr. Bloomberg said of his plans to attend the 2002 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award Dinner honoring Mr. Giuliani in Beverly Hills.

''I didn't have anything planned tomorrow night, so I'll fly out, go to the awards dinner and fly overnight to come back, so I'll be back 6, 7 o'clock in the morning on Saturday morning,'' he told WCBS radio.